On Writing: Selling gear and teaching about bikes at Rivendell

I’m in the market for new pedals for my bike and ran across this bicycle company called Rivendell.

The site had a different feel from the start, like the description to the Grip King Pedals I’m going to purchase. Very personal. The very type of information that I needed to understand what made these pedals different.

I think I navigated through the entire site, reading up on an array of different topics.

Here’s an excerpt of the pedals description Daniel mentions. It’s great in how opinionated and plain-spoken it is…

Grip Kings aren’t ten-times better than our other pedals, but the differences and refinements are truly upgrades, although technically hairsplitting ones. If you can spend this much for pedals (in this age of $150 to $350 ones), and you’re committed to pedaling without any connection, then go for these. They feel just fantastic under your feet—-like nubby, grippy frying pans. (not the hot kind).

If you’re just curious about pedaling “free” like this and/or you want something cheaper, go for our MKS Sneaker pedals. It’s in the “Related Products” section, and is still our Best Deal Pedal. Not e’en the Grip King will knock it off that exalted throne. Still, the GK is a killer deal.

...and it’s the same way throughout the site. For example, The Big Picture doesn’t shy away from bold pronouncements.

Most riders today are riding bikes that by our standards, are too small. They make you lean over too far, which puts too much weight on your hands, and too much strain on your arms, neck, and back.

If you’re a mid-50s rider of moderate fitness, but ride fewer than 3000 miles per year, and you want to ride longish and steepish hills, the standard road gearing you’ll find on virtually any stock road bike, is too high. You don’t need a top gear more than 100 inches. You’ll appreciate a low gear of 23-inches or less.

If you weigh more than 150 lbs and/or are not racing (meaning, even if you weigh 122 lbs and don’t race), the smallest tire you should ride is 27mm wide.

You may personally prefer welded frames, or fillet-brazed frames, and that’s fine. We prefer them lugged, and so that’s all we make.

Modern bikes have too many gears…Our attitude toward the number of cogs on the rear hub is: Seven is heaven, eight is great, nine is fine, ten is kind of getting ridiculous, but it won’t kill you.

Gotta love the lack of hemming and hawing there.

Equal parts store and classroom.

Tips for Happy Riding also offers up juicy insights. For example: “Don’t ride in shoes you can’t walk through an antique shop in.”

And owner Grant Petersen is quite transparent about the company’s finances at the Company History page.

From late ‘84 to late ‘94 I (Grant) designed and spec’d bicycles and worked on catalogues for the U.S. division of Bridgestone Cycle, Japan’s largest bike maker. Bridgestone closed the U.S. office after ten years of no profit, when the dollar-to-yen exchange rate plummeted to the point where it became impossible to even break even. I was 40, and started Rivendell with $89,000, a mix of retirement money, savings, loans, and money raised by selling stock to friends.

True to the cliche, Rivendell was in my garage for two years. Now we have 5,000 square feet at about $0.90 per square foot, one of the cheaper rents in town. We like it here a lot. It’s easy to get to, close to good food and riding, and it feels like home, except that summertime temperatures average 90F and are often over 100F, and winter days rarely get above 57F. We drive home this point before we hire anybody new. We’ve been profitable three of the past fifteen years, but cash flow is neutral. Sales are about $2.8 million dollars per year. We’re just breaking even, there are no top-heavy salaries, and we fret a lot during slow weeks (and months). I do, at least.

Our mission is to make things that wouldn’t be made if we weren’t here, to offer an alternative to racing-centric bikes and parts, and to espouse a different approach to riding. And to resurrect and keep healthy many of the better ideas, designs, and styles of bicycles, clothing, and accessories that we personally like to use or wear.

Rivendell looks like another great example of a little guy using strong opinions and straight talk to stand out from the crowd.

Grant’s writing is great (they also have a newsletter). They are also the guys behind AdventureCorps that arrange rides through Death Valley and other crazy events--I mean that in a good way. As far as I remember, he has a degree in philosophy and it really is a “riding philosophy” being espoused there as in “any bike - anywhere”.

Some day I hope to own one of their bikes. It’ll likely be the last bike I’ll ever buy. Now, there are other great bike manufacturers out there, but you only find that kind of commentary at Rivendell. I have been checking out their site for a few years now—-almost applied for a job there even :)

Sam

ML

on 30 Sep 10

“We’re just breaking even” That’s a sentiment I see a lot here. How do you feel about it?

My .02: It all depends. Is the arrow pointing up or down? Are things improving or getting worse? How important is it to do your own thing vs. working for someone else? Is the anxiety of riding that line killing you or is it thrilling in a way? What you would trade to have more security in your life? Is making money your main goal or are other things more important? How is it impacting the rest of your life? Life is about priorities. Everyone’s got to decide on those for themselves.

Sean McC

on 30 Sep 10

Yeah, for sure.

Sorry, when I wrote that first comment, I was running out the door. The quote as I had read it was ringing of the ideals of his company. Out of context, it loses that tone.

So when I said the general sentiment I meant breaking even but still loving what you are doing.

It seems like 37s would be loving what they were doing even if they weren’t raking it in. Also seems like it would be true for a lot of your readership.

I’m a big fan of Rivendell, they really do practice what they preach. I ride an A. Homer Hilsen and a Quickbeam and love both of them and plan on riding them till I keel over.

They also were the second retailer to carry my product-reciprocal customer loyalty.

If you’re into bikes/outdoors and are in the Walnut Creek area, check them out. There’s some good folks working there and they’re definitely worth the trip.

Robin Curry

on 30 Sep 10

Nice find. I freakin’ love the warranty copy (and I’m pretty sure I’ve never said that before). A couple of excerpts:

It may seem odd for a company that makes such reliable frames to not have a standard instant freebie replacement – warranty, but hold on. Just because something that’s defective is likely to break, doesn’t mean anything that breaks is defective. Even superbly designed, artfully made steel bikes ridden according to design intent can break. We know that, and go to great lengths to prevent it.

and….

But sometimes a frame breaks, and that’s no more proof of a defect than a broken window is proof of defective glass. It is impossible to tell the history of the frame. It may be impossible for even its owner to know it. Sometimes even good things break, and anybody, or any company who doesn’t acknowledge that is not being honest.
All that said, broken frames are rare. Crash damage, and running into garages with bikes on the roof rack are way, way more common. Tell us your frame’s story. We may fix it for nothing, but you pay the freight. Or we may charge a fee for the fix. It is at our discretion, but we’re not your enemy, and you are our friend. We keep that in mind, always.

I love this line from the company’s history: “Our mission is to make things that wouldn’t be made if we weren’t here”

Robert

on 30 Sep 10

@robin: I found myself hating the warranty copy. Nice way to attempt to shirk your mandated consumer protection requirements. “Defect? Huh, maybe. But we’ll see, and you know, you might have to pay, regardless. It’s up to us, not you.”

Uhhh, no. It’s not. If it’s defective – and even good things do break – then it wasn’t fit for purpose, and you are obligated to repair or replace, not put some hipster copy on your website about how they’re really your friend, but it’s up to them whether they fix their problem or not, and whether you will be charged for the privilege.

Color me not entirely sold. Whilst SVN posted another article about a picky bike maker, at least that one was telling you his design philosophy and whether you’d make a good fit. These guys are all hip and their love of bikes is apparent, but I’m not impressed at the attempt to waive your statutory rights behind flowery prose.

@robert: They aren’t shirking anything. They stand by everything they do. In my observations, they go far beyond what I’d consider “normal” to make customers happy. Ask anyone who has ever dealt with them, and I imagine you’ll hear the same.

@Early Retirement Extreme: Rivendell isn’t involved with AdventureCORPS, and Grant doesn’t have a philosophy degree. I do agree that their magazine, the Rivendell Reader, is excellent. Just want the truth to be out there. :-)

@37 Signals: I love this theme on your blog, and it’s great to see RBW featured here. Keep it up.

Anthony

on 30 Sep 10

Happy to see this post. I order from these guys all the time and I love their writing also. I always get a smile, and feel like I know them.

Fred zeppelin

on 30 Sep 10

@ Robert

Let me re-intrepret their warranty:

We aren’t just going to believe any bullshit story about how you were just riding along and your frame broke. We’ll take a look at it and let you know whether we find crash-induced damage and go from there, but it’ll be nicer for everybody involved if you are up front with us from the start.

Not sure about other retail, but if you’ve ever worked in a bike shop this is exactly what you want to say to a customre, and usually do, in friendlier terms.

GregT

on 30 Sep 10

Not sure about other retail, but if you’ve ever worked in a bike shop this is exactly what you want to say to a customre, and usually do, in friendlier terms.

Well, I don’t know much about bike shops, but I do know that when I buy pretty much anything, I want a CostCo / WalMart warranty: bring the fucking thing back in any condition at any time for any reason, and we’ll give you your money back, no questions asked.

One day I’m gonna buy an Oh Henry and go back in right after with the wrapper and say I don’t like peanuts. Betcha they won’t even blink. Customer service at its finest ;)

Anonymous Coward

on 01 Oct 10

@GregT
Feel free to shop elsewhere and end up with crap the you can replace for free.

nathan

on 01 Oct 10

@ GregT I think places like walmart and costco simply take just about anything back because its too expensive for them to pay people to haggle with some guy over an Oh Henry. Its not really about whats right or fare – its just easier/cheaper for them. You can’t expect a place like RBW that sells much higher end stuff at a way lower volume to have the same kind of policy. I imagine RBW genuinely cares about customers’ satisfaction more so than wal-mart. But maybe I’m wrong…

They could make the warranty look better by showing some numbers of how many claims they have had over the years – how many have been free fixes and how many they’ve had to charge for. This would take the heat out of this issue.

Randall

on 05 Oct 10

@Sean McCambridge, ML: Rivendell as a company is breaking even, but sounds like it’s paying the founder a salary (not a huge one, he implies, but a salary), which would change the equation if I were in his shoes.

This discussion is closed.

About Matt Linderman

Now: The creator of Vooza, "the Spinal Tap of startups." Previously: Employee #1 at 37signals and co-author of the books Rework and Getting Real.